CP-e TowPlate

[Haltech]

Comments & discussions about the CP-e Towplate here:

[aaronc7]

now you just need a smoked license plate cover

[Haltech]

Righttt... those are illegal in CA

[FreeFlyFreak]

Haltech,

Excellent write up on the CP-e plate install.
Congrats on your firs CP-E product review, lets hope it is not the last, competition is good.

Thanks to Pale for providing the plate mount, really a shame that CP-E cant come through themselves though.

Anywho, last question, H8 PC288..... LOL
Im guessing is one of those nazi HB cops, or am I wrong.

[Haltech]

Originally Posted by FreeFlyFreak Haltech, Excellent write up on the CP-e plate install. Congrats on your firs CP-E product review, lets hope it is not the last, competition is good. Thanks to Pale for providing the plate mount, really a shame that CP-E cant come through themselves though. Anywho, last question, H8 PC288..... LOL Im guessing is one of those nazi HB cops, or am I wrong.

Well like mentioned many times, Cpe should be smart and use the site to push their products. More people purchase products from a formal review, than a user review. User reviews lack details...

Anyhow.. my plate means... I Hate Child Molesters... PC288 is a CA penal code for lewd conduct with a child under 14 yrs of age.

[phailerider]

why should cpe give your shitty ass a free towplate to review on this shitty forum?

i only did it so youre car wouldnt look like shit.

now its sexxxxx.

[Haltech]

Originally Posted by palerider why should cpe give your shitty ass a free towplate to review on this shitty forum? i only did it so youre car wouldnt look like shit. now its sexxxxx.

I like having a shitty forum... and i have the BEST looking shitty forum.

[phailerider]

Originally Posted by Haltech I like having a shitty forum... and i have the BEST looking shitty forum.

i just read the review. fine fine forum you have here!! my quote was taken out of context. this forum is the "shit". thanks for the plug

all joking aside. i love these writeups youve done here. thanks for the work on that, kevin. helps set this place apart!!

[superskaterxes]

where is this review? how come i cant see it.....



EDIT: im a retard, ill go back to my hole now........

[ATE BALLER]

Seems like you hate the law, not the criminals...

j/k, lol

[Haltech]

Originally Posted by ATE BALLER Seems like you hate the law, not the criminals... j/k, lol

Police know what it means... its an automatic give me if they were gonna light me up for something stupid.. only a copper would know what it meant.

[Laloosh]

well i can tell you that this plate holder fucks deer up hardcore....saves the passenger side of your car as it breaks the deers legs....FUCK THERE GOES MY BUILD MONEY!!!

[phailerider]

Originally Posted by Laloosh well i can tell you that this plate holder fucks deer up hardcore....saves the passenger side of your car as it breaks the deers legs....FUCK THERE GOES MY BUILD MONEY!!!

well the good news is youre gonna save money on the turkey for thanksgiving.

did you really kill a deer? your car is now officially a hunter. thats cool.

[Haltech]

WTF is with all of this deer running out in front of Mazdaspeeds in MD?

[phailerider]

Originally Posted by Haltech WTF is with all of this deer running out in front of Mazdaspeed in MD?

i need real confirmation. i dont believe it yet. what do the kids say.... "pics or ban" or something?

[Renzokuken]

Originally Posted by palerider well the good news is youre gonna save money on the turkey for thanksgiving. did you really kill a deer? your car is now officially a hunter. thats cool.

MMMMMM... Venison !

[FreeFlyFreak]

Originally Posted by Laloosh well i can tell you that this plate holder fucks deer up hardcore....saves the passenger side of your car as it breaks the deers legs....FUCK THERE GOES MY BUILD MONEY!!!

Your POST is worthless without PICS

[ATE BALLER]

lol, loosh hit a deer!? you're having too much fun with that gt35 there buddy. deer don't know that when they hear a turbo spoolin to get the fuck off the road, lol.

[rodrigo]

all I know is that y2kcowboy showed proof of his bambi slayer title in the form of a 8k estimate , newly deer modded front end (with pics) and my absolute favorite : the shit stains on his bumper as he clearly hit the deer ass first and it shit-smeared all over his white car.

[Breakdown81]

tow plates are BALLER son!



CHECK IT!

[lidokrantz]

fucking deer....i have to be careful in my damn driveway.700ft long thru the woods to the road...these bastards are all over the place....let alone the BAD case of Lymes Disease i got for the 2nd time this summer. Besides deer have collided with me at least 4 times in the past and you have to be alert. Problem is our cars are the only predator in NJ for deer, except when they let the Sportsman out in the woods.

[retrobmx63]

Two questions...

1) I notice the mount's shaft point is offset quite a bit. Does this induce any flex if you apply pressure to the mount on the opposite side?

2) Is this a reversible modification? It would seem quite hard to remove the mount's shaft, in order to use the stock tow hook in its original manner.

[Haltech]

Originally Posted by retrobmx63 Two questions... 1) I notice the mount's shaft point is offset quite a bit. Does this induce any flex if you apply pressure to the mount on the opposite side? 2) Is this a reversible modification? It would seem quite hard to remove the mount's shaft, in order to use the stock tow hook in its original manner.

No induced flex whatsoever....

And yes, this is a reversible modification as long as you keep the install tools, in the trunk for on road adventures.

[rodrigo]

Originally Posted by retrobmx63 Two questions... 1) I notice the mount's shaft point is offset quite a bit. Does this induce any flex if you apply pressure to the mount on the opposite side? 2) Is this a reversible modification? It would seem quite hard to remove the mount's shaft, in order to use the stock tow hook in its original manner.

the shaft is super sturdy, you would have to feel it to understand. (its not sheetmetal , its a heavy duty piece!!)

as far as using the tow hook.......you have to undo the license plate from the cover, the mount off the shaft and then the towhook will thread inside the shaft......thats is the beauty of it...the shaft has 2 size threads inside...one to secure the plate mount and another to use with the towhook when needed.

[kingpin748]

I live in Alberta.

I don't need one.

Everyone else sucks.

[ATE BALLER]

So what keeps someone from walking up and steeling your license plate?

[phillyb]

Originally Posted by ATE BALLER So what keeps someone from walking up and steeling your license plate?

nothing really. but who's to say this is any more prone to getting stolen than when it's on the front of the car?

[Haltech]

Originally Posted by ATE BALLER So what keeps someone from walking up and steeling your license plate?

Buy plate locks.

[rodrigo]

Originally Posted by ATE BALLER So what keeps someone from walking up and steeling your license plate?

the same thing that prevents it on all cars....4 screws. But the tow plate cannot be stolen unless u take the license plate off...and then have a 3/8 allen wrench with you. and that still leaves the shaft in there.

[Addikted To Boost]

I love mine the quality can't be beat. Its a hardcore mount you could kick it as hard as you wanted and I highly doubt it would even bend.

[Moonpie.Express]

Got mine in this week and since it is a balmy 45 and sunny here, I am going for install.

Thanks for the write up! Well done.

Edit: Well, it did not go as planned. The PC on the shaft and threads are a bit too much. I had to force the shaft thru the sheetmetal cutout. I took a small triangular file and cleared as much PC from the first few threads as I could. I was doing this just to see if I could get it started.
It started to thread and then started binding. Fearful of cross threading, I tried backing it out and the Towhook loosened. There was no bugding it now so I proceeded to tighten. It did not feel in anyway like crossthreading, so I got it in there, but not all the way. The plate is actually about 1 inch from the bumper. I will take a look at it when it is warmer.

Edit 2: Went out this morning and gave it another shot. Got it in so that the shaft end is flush w/ bumper. Still not as far in as install pics. I did notice that the pic of all the supplied equipment gave me a big clue that I did not notice the first time.....there is NO powdercoating on the shaft threads!!!! Mine was PC'd . So just as a heads up, there is a run of these things w/ PC on the threads. You have to get it off prior to install!!

[rodrigo]

wire brush teh threads and u should be ok next time. all painters 4get to mask pieces every now and then.

[cxz]

AWESOME write-up!!! I was reading over the given write-up from CP-E and was like really the front bumper needs to come off...thanks for the great write-up!!

[dubi0us]

Anybody doing this install, it's a lot easier if Mazda gives you a tow hook with the proper thread size. Good thing I found out before I really needed it. the tough part was convincing the dealership that it was the wrong size without takeing of the plate. As if I was making it up WTF!

[xandrake]

Originally Posted by dubi0us Anybody doing this install, it's a lot easier if Mazda gives you a tow hook with the proper thread size. Good thing I found out before I really needed it. the tough part was convincing the dealership that it was the wrong size without takeing of the plate. As if I was making it up WTF!

Maybe this happened to me?

[y2kc0wb0y]

REally?

[doubleflusher]

I put mine on last night.

Great product.

Super simple install.

Hal made some awesome instructions.

[kwsmithphoto]

All new cars sold by dealers in CA must have a front license plate mount installed for them to legally sell it to you, unless you ordered the car specially with a request that it not be mounted. Which is no guarantee they won't do it anyway, because it's SOP for most dealers to cover their butts, legally speaking. The only way they can legally delete it is if you sign a waiver that the car won't be operated on the road.

Which, to most of us, means that if you remove the plate mount the dealer is required to install, you'll still have jagged holes in your bumper from the original mount if you re-locate it. From what I can tell the CP-E mount is legal because the CAVC doesn't specify that it has to be centered, it just has to be higher than 12 inches and lower than 60 inches above the road, and unobstructed by any covering, including your windshield.

On my last car, I folded over the top an bottom of the front plate so it would fit within the bumper area, and didn't cover anything that a big license plate frame would have blocked anyway. Technically illegal, but never had a problem in 10 years. Basically, as long as "California" and the numbers are clearly visible, you shouldn't have a problem, even with the rigidly enforced front plate laws.

While reading the latest CAVC I also discovered that they still haven't specified exactly how the rear tags should be placed, other that the month should be on the left, and the year should be on the right. For 20+ years now I've been placing the month sticker upside down. It amuses me, but it's perfectly legal. It's never even been mentioned when pulled over, which, um, has happened. My current tag reads "AON" with a backwards N.

Just my little way of "sticking it to the man" without being pulled over because of it. Front plate delete? Instant pullover in most of CA, especially in areas with lots of red light cameras. But upside down stickers they can't do shit about, and they know it, as long as the month is on the left, and the year is on on the right.

And BTW, I think that offset mount looks weird. It's legal, is clearly well executed and it has some good reasons to exist, but it isn't for me.

[doubleflusher]

I specifically asked the dealer not to install the front bracket. I didn't want holes in my mustache.

With a temp tag, there is no need for a front bracket anyway. Does CA give a temp tag?

I guess it comes down to what each dealer will do.

Maybe they put the brackets on before they are even put into dealer stock.

[Haltech]

Well you can quote anything you like out of the vehicle section in CA's book. However, i can assure you, 85% of the time, dealers dont install front plate brackets because it pisses customers off. ive demanded a replacement bumper on some cars ive purchased in the past because of that.. either replace it or ill buy somewhere else.

Regardless, the Towplate sits off to the side because of the tow hook location. The purpose of the tow plate is NOT to cut into the bumper and it can be easily removed for racing, car shows, whatever the ricer in you wants.